In addition to the big changes to Cyberpunk 2077 like transmog, plans to overhaul police, and an upcoming expansion pack, CD Projekt Red has also introduced official modding tools to the game. The REDmod tool is available for download on Steam and CDPR's website, and is required both to make and play a new category of mod.
According to both NexusMods and CDPR itself, REDmod can be used alongside previously existing mod formats. That's crucial, as NexusMods has already played host to a pretty extensive modding community in the two years since Cyberpunk 2077's release. CDPR seems eager to ingratiate itself with this pre-existing community, encouraging users to upload REDmod creations to NexusMods, and recommending that they use the tool with the pre-existing WolvenKit open-source editor for The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.
I've already had my eyes on a couple of QoL fixes on the Nexus for my next playthrough, but REDmod seems like it could allow for even more substantive additions to the game, as it supports "custom sounds, animations, scripts, and more." If nothing else, the increased ease-of-use could help attract attention and talent for the Cyberpunk 2077 mod community.
REDmod offers full documentation, a plugin for the popular 3D modeling software Blender, and an even easier way for users to install and organize their mods (only for new REDmod projects though—old ones still have to be installed the old fashioned way.)
I've had a soft spot for CDPR's controversial take on the dark future, and the release of REDmod and the Edgerunners Update makes it feel like a good time to hop in ahead of the hopefully Hearts of Stone-or-better level expansion pack, Phantom Liberty. I'd like to see what a few years of polish has done for what's a surprisingly great collection of sci-fi short stories, flaws and all.
